


if you're in love, then you are the lucky one

by orphan_account



Series: from the perfect start to the finish line [4]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, monarchy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-07 14:38:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3176265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura still can't believe how lucky she is that Carmilla Karnstein is in her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for supporting this little AU. I had so much fun writing this and I hope you guys have enjoyed the ride! This is the last installment. (for now)

The first time that the doctor mentions Alzheimer's, you panic a little bit.

After you attend a conference that discusses it, it gives you nightmares.

It's scary, the idea that this could be living in your brain, like a time bomb ticking away, and yes, the odds of you developing it are low even despite the fact that it's genetic and your Mom had it, but you've always been a little bit afraid of the things you have absolutely no control over.

But Carmilla, she's - 

She gives control back to you bit by bit. She lets you decide when you want to go to the doctor's again to ask him about prevention and then she lets you pick what kind of brain simulating activity you want to do on what night. 

You are amazed by the fact she's with you despite all of your shortcomings.

 

* * *

 

You're not the ruler of a country by any means, but you are the symbolic leader of a Commonwealth, and you know that comes with a bit of power to wield. You've always planned to, at some point, speak out about your sexuality because so many young people struggle with it and it'd be worth a million speeches if you can make even one of them realize there's nothing wrong with them.

The night before you leave for Switzerland, you lie in bed beside Carmilla, who is drifting in and out of consciousness and you reach down to take her hand and give it a squeeze. She squeezes back.

"Carm." You say and she makes a sound as if to say 'go on'. "Why aren't you coming to Switzerland with me?"

"I didn't think you wanted me to."

"Can we agree that from now on out, you should just assume I want you with me everywhere? Because I want you everywhere."

Carmilla turns her head and you feel her sleepy smile against your shoulder.

"I don't have clothes for the cold." She says and you nudge her so you can look at what she's wearing right now.

"You do know you've been wearing my clothes for the past month and a half, right?" You tug on the Vancouver Angels shirt she's got on - it's really a pity you didn't keep a jersey because boy, would she ever look hot in that - and sneak a finger under the waistband of a pair of skinny jeans she's wearing that haven't fit you comfortably since you were sixteen. "What's another week?"

"Your pants are too short on me."

"Oh please, you are only like an inch taller." You know she's teasing, but you want her to say she's coming so you press your lips to hers and she sighs and sinks back into the pillows. "So that's a yes? You'll pack all of my black pieces of clothing into a bag and come with me?"

"Obviously." She mutters, pulling your mouth to meet hers again. "What time do we have to be up?"

"Does it matter?" She's managed to pin you to the mattress without you realizing and you groan at the fact you're both still wearing clothes. "Just please get naked."

She laughs your favorite throaty laugh that makes your toes curl and then she's shimmying out of your jeans and underwear and is about to pull the shirt over her head when you stop her.

"Keep that on."

She quirks a perfect eyebrow up at you.

"My my, Laura Hollis." She grinds her hips down and you grab a fistful of her - your - shirt because you're quickly losing your composure here. "Does someone have a thing for girls wearing their hockey t-shirt?"

"Just you." You say, pulling her down so her front is pressed against yours. "God, you're hot."

"I've told you before that I prefer your highness."

" _Carm_." You whine when she snakes a hand down between the two of you and underneath your pajama pants. "I swear to god if you don't move your hand right now - "

Your eyes roll back so far at the feel of her fingers that you're pretty sure you can see your brain.

"I want you everywhere, too." She says and _how is she even talking right now?_ "And I want to move all my things here, but I just can't seem to leave you long enough to do so."

"I love you." You tell her, trying to pull her closer because she will never be close enough for your liking.

"I love you too, Laura."

 

* * *

 

You don't consider yourself a fantastic public speaker, but you do know you're above average and you've spoken at a mental health convention before about how your therapist has helped you with your grief. _You've spoken to millions of people about something you've kept private before_.

But somehow, this feels different. Maybe because you know the world's eyes will be on you in a matter of hours, maybe because you've never really had to come out to anyone your whole life, but here you are telling the world.

You can see Carmilla clearly from where you're standing. She's wearing a simple black dress with her hair up in a bun. She smiles and nods in encouragement as you begin to talk into the microphone.

You focus on keeping your voice steady. And when your hands begin to shake just as the words ' _I'm a lesbian_ ' are about to leave your mouth, you lace your fingers together under the podium, look up at Carmilla, and keep going.

It's oddly relaxing, finally being able to say your piece after having mulled over it for a month and it's nice knowing that people finally know who you are completely. Carmilla stands and claps her hands when you're done speaking and so do Perry and LaFontaine. It takes you a few moments to realize the rest of the crowd has gotten to their feet as well and are applauding for you.

 

* * *

 

It makes you tear up and Carmilla has to pull you into a bathroom to help touch up your eye make-up before you leave the building and face the giant crowd of media waiting for you outside. She taps her foot impatiently as she works.

"I don't understand why you insisted on not bringing your make-up man." She says, using the side of her finger to wipe away eyeliner that has smudged. "He's better at this than I ever will be."

"Maybe I just like your hands on me." You say and it comes out a little weak because there is still a lump in your throat from earlier. Carmilla stops what she's doing and steps back from you.

"You know how proud I am of you, right?" She says, a slow smile beginning to light up her face. "You are - when it comes to things like this, you have this look about you that just - I honestly think you are the embodiment of the perfect monarch."

You return her smile and you almost start crying all over again.

"Thank you." You reach out to hug her and she meets you halfway. "You kept me sane throughout that whole speech."

"I hope someone puts up a video of it on YouTube." She resumes her cleaning up the smudged lines of eyeliner. "Perry threatened to roundhouse me if I took out my phone to film it."

You laugh at that because you would have completely lost it and started laughing if you had been met with the sight of Carmilla holding up her iPhone to record your speech.

"You laugh now, but if that woman ever actually roundhouses me, you'd be stuck with a wife who's got a dent in one side of her head - "

"I _really like_ how that sounds."

She pauses what she's doing to smile and pull you in for a brief kiss.

"I'm going to be your wife soon." She says and you can't contain your grin. "And you're going to be mine."

You kiss her again before you leave the safety of the bathroom and once again just before you exit the building because somewhere along the way, Carmilla's kisses have started making you feel like you could take on the world.

 

* * *

 

The next few weeks are, for lack of a better word, a complete circus.

You have met Elizabeth, your head Public Relations person or whatever she's called, about five times, twice to talk about the implications of you coming out to the world, in the last five years that you've been queen. She usually sends one of the people under her command to check up on you every afternoon, but after Switzerland, you get used to seeing her in person about five times a day.

You get interview requests from just about every media outlet in the country and social media blows up with GIFs, Carmilla kindly explained to you what they are and what their purpose is, and videos of your speech. Carmilla's favorite thing ever is when the GIFs freeze and stop at a frame of you looking like you're making faces at the camera or possibly holding in a burp, one would never know. She sends you screenshots when this happens and you so wish that the middle finger emoji exists.

Carmilla goes to Berlin a couple of days after you get home from Switzerland because she keeps running out of her fuzzy socks to wear at night. She only brought three pairs to London originally and the fact that fuzzy socks are what finally drives her to go back to her apartment and get her own clothes makes you laugh and love her even more.

While she's gone, you try and focus on picking a credible magazine or paper to do an interview, your first since Switzerland and the most important one you've done in your life most likely, but your mind keeps running away and planning a wedding instead.

Elizabeth isn't very happy with you at all.

 

* * *

 

You do a Sudoku puzzle by yourself on Sunday morning. Carmilla's on the phone with you the whole time and you laugh when you realize she's contributing as much not even seeing the puzzle as she normally does.

"I want to bring my bed there." She says and you pause for a moment, focusing on writing down an 8 in one of the blank spaces.

"Your bed?"

"Yeah, it's IKEA. I can disassemble it and get it shipped over."

"Carm." You say, glancing over at the four-poster from where you're sitting on the floor. "You know this bed has been in my family for like a hundred generations."

"And that fact doesn't strike you as strange? Your great grandparents probably fucked in that bed."

"Carmilla!" You scold her, but she does have a point. It is kind of weird now that you think about it. "You want to replace my antique, priceless four-poster bed with a bed from IKEA."

"Do you have something against IKEA?"

"I have something against assembling one of their beds."

She's silent for a moment.

"Can we at least replace the mattress?"

You roll your eyes.

"Fine. Fine."

"Good. Now what numbers have already been filled in on the third row?"

"Eight, two, and six."

"And the fourth?"

"Two, seven, and six."

"I think you need more fours, and nines. Maybe a few less twos."

"Okay." She's quiet for a good five minutes. You fill in a one, a two, and a four. You move down another row and manage to work in another two and a five and then find yourself scribbling in a zero before scratching it out. You move over a column and fill in a seven, a five, and a six. A three, five, and another two later, you're looking at the mostly finished puzzle, trying to work out how to place a seven, a four, and yet another two.

"I have absolutely no idea how to help you solve this." Carmilla finally says.

You laugh so hard that you have to put her on speaker.

 

* * *

 

"You can't do that." Elizabeth says when you finally are able to pick an interview you won't be opposed to doing.

"Why not?"

"That person has no media credentials."

"Of course she doesn't have media credentials, she's not even out of high school yet."

"Exactly!"

"But." You say, holding up the envelope a high school girl aspiring to become a journalist had sent you. "She wrote me a letter and asked nicely which would be the highlight of my week if it wasn't for the fact that Ellen DeGeneres called me yesterday - "

"Your majesty." You don't think you've met anyone in this palace who has addressed you with as much contempt as Elizabeth Anne Spielsdorf does and you are forever thankful for lucking out and hiring her because she's the kind of badass you want in your corner. "You are talking nonsense."

"Okay well what about you let me do this interview that I like and in exchange, you get to pick one that I'll do without complaint?"

She narrows her eyes at you.

"Five."

"One."

"Three."

You soften because why the hell not.

"Fine. Three."

She nods.

"Where do I get a hold of this interviewer girl?"

"Well, Elizabeth, there's this great thing called a return address - "

Elizabeth scowls at you, grabs the envelope out of your hands and turns to leave the room.

"Three interviews of my choosing this week, your majesty." She calls over her shoulder.

You turn back to the documents you're supposed to be reviewing instead of replying.

 

* * *

 

Carmilla comes back less an a week after she left. She drags her suitcase into your closet and you watch her from where you're sitting on the bed, scrolling through pictures of wedding dresses on Pinterest.

"Hey to you, too." You say after she disappears into the closet and doesn't come out for a substantial amount of time.

"I didn't know I had so many clothes." She says and then you hear a grunt and a thud. You put the iPad down on the bedside table.

"Carmilla Karnstein if that was the sound of my jewelry box hitting the ground - "

"Relax, creampuff, relax." She saunters into your bedroom with a smug grin on her face and you immediately get up and kiss her. "It was strange not having you around."

"Is this you telling me you missed me?"

" _This_ is me telling you I missed you." She says and then she's gently pushing you down on the bed and slowly, slowly peeling your clothes off of your body. She smells like airplane and peaches and you missed her beyond what you even thought possible. Considering that you've spent the majority of your lives apart before she finished school you thought you could handle not having her for a short period of time, but it's so much more difficult.

She's in a painfully patient mood. You can tell right away that she won't be rushing anything tonight. Her movements are all smooth and slow and you think you might just die if she doesn't get to it.

"I missed you a lot." She says against the skin of your hips. "I don't know how I survived without you before."

You don't know how you survived without her either.

"Carmilla."

Carmilla looks up at that and you thread your fingers through her hair with one hand and stroke her cheekbone with the other.

"I'm sorry." You say because between the hints Will dropped and your own intuition, you know you've caused her a few tearful years. She shakes her head at you.

"Stop apologizing."

"Okay."

You don't apologize for those years ever again.

 

* * *

 

You finish the interviews you committed to on Wednesday night and then you spend the rest of the evening sitting on the floor of your office, flipping through bridal magazines that Perry had so graciously gone out of her way to get you.

You haven't set a date, but Carmilla's mother has called you twice now to talk about details. She's told you that under no circumstances are you allowed to spend a coin on this wedding and you are grateful for her financial support, but you know it's really her approval that matters for Carmilla, so you try and get her to split costs, but she's got the will of her daughter and the charm of her son so you've barely started the argument when it becomes clear you've already lost.

Carmilla walks into your office while you're contemplating hiring a wedding planner and she drops a kiss on your cheek before picking up one of the magazines you've already searched through.

"Are you getting married?" She asks, rolling her eyes at the pile of wedding related things on your desk and the dozens of magazines scattered on the floor around you.

"Yes." You go back to your magazine. "Yes, I'm getting married to the asshole standing where you are."

"Well, then." She plops down on the ground too.

"I'm sorry, I just don't even know where to start with the planning."

She's quiet for a few minutes.

"A friend of mine." She says slowly. "In Berlin. A friend of mine in Berlin is a wedding planner."

"I'll ask Elizabeth to look into it. She's appointed herself the head of background checks now too."

"Elizabeth?" Carmilla's confusion turns into recognition after a moment. "Oh, Betty. Yeah, I'll give her Danny's number."

"She'll claw your eyes out if she ever hears you calling her that." You point out. "Elizabeth Anne Spielsdorf is basically catwoman."

"She scares me about as much as that vampire twerp who sparkles in that shitty movie we watched other night." Carmilla says. "I just thought I'd come check if you were ready to do a crossword."

"I'll just clean all this up." You say, gesturing to the mess in your office. "And then I'll give Elizabeth a call. Then after that, we can do those crosswords you love so much, nerd."

"Says the _Queen of Sudoku_."

"I said that _once_."

She gets up and rolls her eyes at you as she starts picking up magazines. You're kind of touched by the fact that she's voluntarily doing some tidying for you.

 

* * *

 

It's a lot easier to get excited about the wedding with Danny aboard. The woman takes care of everything you could ever have thought to take care of. She even catches the fact that the princess of Sweden is allergic to the flowers you originally planned to have.

After Elizabeth snarls at Danny a few times for encouraging you to take time considering and re-considering the date you want your wedding to take place, you finally come to a decision and so your Head of PR sends out a press release about your engagement and organizes a day in which you and Carmilla do nothing but pose for photographs in different rooms of the palace and even out and about London.

You save all the photos after and rotate which one gets to be the wallpaper of your computer. Carmilla is smiling in all of them, which her mother points out is miraculous in the email you get back after sending her the photos. It makes you smile every time you think of it.

You ask Will to go dress shopping with you on multiple occasions and Kirsch, by extension, comes along. Perry and LaFontaine are there too and Perry cries when you walk out to the viewing area wearing _the_ dress.

"I watched your parents get married on television." She says sobbing into LaF's shoulder and you feel tears prickling in your eyes too. "I'm so happy for you, Laura."

You step down from the pedestal in front of the mirror and you throw your arms around the both of them and there's a lot of crying and clutching at each other for several moments. You love them so much and you tell them so multiple times with Perry's hair in your face and LaFontaine's elbow digging into your ribs. It's perfect.

 

* * *

 

Things get a bit trickier when it comes to the wedding's location. Your advisers point to London as the obvious venue seeing as the Abbey has seen many royal weddings. But you haven't forgotten the way Carmilla's eyes light up when she's in Monte Carlo.

Danny leaves the venue of the wedding totally up to you, but she does follow you around for a day asking random questions about your relationship with Carmilla. Things like 'where did you meet?' and 'where was your first date?' and that kind of thing. She says afterwards that she has the perfect place in mind for the reception.

And that's well and good, but you have no clue how to decide where the two of you will get married.

It doesn't help that Carmilla completely leaves it up to you, either.

"All I care about is that I get to marry you." She says, placing a kiss against the side of your neck while you're doing a Sudoku puzzle. She's getting better at Sudoku and crosswords are becoming easier for you so you asked Perry to buy more advanced exercise books when the two of you finished the last ones.

"But you must have a preference." You insist. "Monte Carlo or London?"

"You know the answer to that." She says, penciling in a few numbers on the puzzle.

"Ugh. You're no help."

" _I_ was the one who had to sit down with Danny, Betty, and my mother through a conference call to go over the seating arrangements at the reception." You can feel her grimace against your shoulder blade. "The amount of tension in that room for a full two hours almost suffocated me."

"Fair enough." You double check the completed puzzle before closing it and placing it on your bedside table. Carmilla tosses her pencil over as soon as you've set your pen down.

You get up from the bed and curl your fingers around hers to lead her to the bathroom so the two of you can get ready to sleep. You comb your hair in front of the mirror while Carmilla rinses her toothbrush.

"Every single time I brush my teeth." She says conversationally. "I remember that I'm marrying a weirdo."

You throw your head back and laugh because every time she opens her mouth, your are reminded of how lucky you are that this girl chose you.

 

* * *

 

In the end, you pick Monte Carlo because Carmilla loves it and the two of you will be living your whole lives in London anyways. Her entire face lights up when you tell her of your decision late one night and she sighs happily against your hair as she wraps her arms around you and you know for certain that you've made the right choice.

 

* * *

 

You wake up in the middle of the night with a thought that you can't get out of your head.

"Carmilla." You say, tapping her collarbone beside where your head rests on her shoulder. "Carm."

She grunts in response and you sit up to look at her.

"Who are you going to ask to walk you down the aisle?"

She blinks sleepily up at you and there is a mix of confusion and exasperation on her face.

"When we get married." You clarify, ghosting your lips against her shoulder - bare because of her oversized shirt slipping down her arm - to keep her awake. "Who is going to walk you down the aisle?"

"Why?"

You take a moment to try and organize your words, but they all come out in a rush anyways.

"Because I was thinking of asking Will do to do me the favour. And I know he's your brother and that you get dibs on him - "

She leans down and presses a kiss against your lips.

"I'm going to be waiting for you at the altar." She mumbles, falling back onto her pillow. "Ask him. He's yours as much as he is mine."

You fall asleep with a smile still on your face.

 

* * *

 

You call Will the next day in between meetings.

He says hello much like his sister does, but now that you're better acquainted with their mother you realize a lot of his mannerisms are originally hers. Carmilla is slightly different from the two of them, but they're still not a mushy feely type of family. The three of them show affection in the same gruff way that makes you grin.

"Will." You say. "I have a favor to ask."

"Shoot." He says.

"Would you kindly give me away at my wedding?"

There's a moment when you're not sure if he heard you because all you hear from his end is breathing.

"Will?"

"Yeah. _Yeah, of course_." He clears his throat. "You - Laura, yeah. Yeah. I'm - that's - _thank you_ for choosing me."

"No. Thank _you_." You're getting a bit emotional and it's only ten in the morning for goodness sake. "I'll see you soon."

"Yes." He says, laughing. "Yeah I'll see you soon, Laura. Thank you."

You hang up and try to wipe at your eyes without ruining the eyeliner you've got on. LaF walks over to you with a Kleenex.

"Thanks." You say. Perry is nowhere to be found. "No Perry today?"

LaF smiles.

"She's with the tall wedding planner and Betty. Perr's starting to take over."

"Why does everyone call her Betty? She told me she prefers Elizabeth on her first day on the job!"

LaFontaine laughs and then goes to sit in the chair in front of your desk. You have a question to ask them, too, so you watch them settle in before clearing your throat.

"Spit it out, Laur."

"Uh." You can't help but fiddle with the corners of the papers in front of you. "I know Carmilla is asking Kirsch to be her best man and I figure Perr will be sitting with Carmilla's mother crying about the ceremony so will you be, um, will you be my person?"

"What?"

"My person. For my wedding. You'll probably need to make a speech, I mean you don't have to!  But - "

"I'd love to, Laura." LaF nods once. "I'll be your person."

You get up and hug them and it's strange, but you're no longer feeling the loss of your parents as sharply in your chest.


	2. Chapter 2

Between Carmilla's mother, who insists that you too call her Maman, Elizabeth, Perry, and Danny, the months leading up to your wedding are about as stress free as they can get. You get little backlash when it comes to where you're holding the ceremony and you chalk that up as being due to Elizabeth's prowess when it comes to dealing with the publicity part of the whole thing.

Your dress arrives in Monte Carlo a few weeks before the wedding and Will informs you of its arrival via text message. You squeal when you read the text and you get a few scattered glances afterwards because you're in a meeting, but you're too giddy to care.

Carmilla leaves London before you because she, Will, and Kirsch have plans for a kind of bachelorette party. You say _no strippers_ as she's kissing you goodbye and she just rolls her eyes.

"The memory of the lap dance you gave me last week is more than enough, cutie." She winks and you laugh and throw a pillow at her retreating back. "I'll see you in a few days, Laura."

 

* * *

 

The night before you leave for Monte Carlo, you have a four hour meeting scheduled with Elizabeth about something to do with media. You show up to an empty meeting room and you get kind of pissed of she's not there yet because you want to leave for your wedding as soon as humanly possible.

"Can you please page someone to call her?" You ask LaF and Perry and they just look back at you, amusement evident in their faces. "Seriously. That's actually an order. I have a plane I need to catch tomorrow morning."

"Laura." Perry starts, stepping away from the wall against which she and LaFontiane had been leaning. "Elizabeth told you last week that you're to be meeting her at a boardroom at King's College."

You drop your head on the table because you must have forgotten and now you're late and the meeting will probably run over time. Damn.

"Okay, yeah." You get up and start walking. "Can you please drive, Perr?"

LaF guffaws from behind you because yeah, Perry has a blatant disregard for the road laws in the United Kingdom and you usually prefer their driving over hers. You just really need to get to this meeting and go kick off a week of wedding preparation and festivities.

Perry drives and you get there in less than five minutes. You get out of the car and start walking towards King's College when Perry pulls roughly at your elbow.

"Perry! What - "

"We hope we didn't stress you out too much." LaF comes up to your other side. They're holding a hockey stick in their hand and they've got a bag slung over their shoulders. Your heart skips a beat and there are tears in your eyes. "But we had to clear up your schedule for this and who better to ask help from than Betty?"

"You guys." You say, reaching for the hockey stick. LaF gives it up willingly. It's your stick from your last year of hockey and the tears start falling then. "How did you even get this stuff? I don't even remember where I left it."

"Carmilla helped." Perry is smiling so widely that her grin might match yours. "The few days she ' _went back to Berlin_ ', she was really tracking your hockey equipment down."

"And then Perr threatened bodily harm on the manager of this place if he didn't keep it open an extra few days and after hours so you can skate." LaF says, looking over at Perry as if she's the best thing to ever happen to this Earth. "It was awesome."

You're crying a lot by this point so LaFontaine has to take the hockey stick back and Perry basically has to lead you as you walk.

 

* * *

 

You take a picture and send it to Carmilla when you're all dressed in your equipment and she immediately sends one back of Will and Kirsch walking ahead of her with an added _I am third wheeling at my own bachelorette party_ and you laugh at that.

The feeling of the wind on your face and the sound of your blades cutting through the ice underneath you is unbelievable. There is a net set up on one end of the rink and Perry and LaFontaine had enough insight to bring along a bag of pucks as well. You spend what feels like an hour on the ice, skating around, wristing pucks into the net, stick handling. You've missed it so much.

"Laura!" Perry calls from where she's standing off of the ice after a while. "You only have a few minutes left."

"How long has it been?" You ask.

"Three hours." LaF replies and you do a double take because it hasn't felt nearly that long. "We'll come back here soon, how about that?"

You nod and enjoy your last few minutes on the ice. You have never felt so at peace as when you're skating with a puck on the blade of your stick and you think Perry and LaFontaine can tell because even if they said only a few more minutes, they let you stay for an hour more.

 

* * *

 

The wedding rehearsals and preparations go by in almost no time at all.

Before you know it, you're sitting in front of a mirror inside of a spare room in the palace at Monte Carlo and you're flipping through a newspaper, trying to be patient as your dress is prepared for you.

"Hey, cupcake." Comes Carmilla's voice from the doorway and you turn to find her leaning up against the frame, a wide smile on her face. She's all ready except for the fact that she's not yet dressed up. She still has on one of your long-sleeved button up shirts and jeans that are too short for her.

"Hi." You say. "You're not supposed to see me before the wedding."

She rolls her eyes.

"That is one of the stupidest traditions I have ever heard of." She huffs. "And since when have we even followed tradition? The centuries old bed we sleep in has an IKEA mattress on it now."

You smile at her because this is happening, you're getting married. After everything the two of you have been through, it can't possibly get any sweeter than this.

"I only came to bring you this, anyway." Carmilla says, reaching for something in her pocket. She dangles a Ziploc bag of cookies in front of you and lays it out on the dresser. "So you don't get hungry later."

_You can't cry_ , you remind yourself. _No crying. You have make up on, don't cry_.

"Wanna split them?" You ask her, holding up the bag.

The slow smile that spreads over her face is more than enough of an answer.

She sits herself on your lap and the two of you try not to get crumbs all over the place, but of course you fail.

 

* * *

 

Will looks beyond handsome in his fitted tux with his hair slicked back. He offers you his arm as soon as walk up to him.

"You look gorgeous." He says. "Please don't cry. I bet Kirsch money that it'll be my sister in tears as you walk down the aisle."

"No promises there, Will." You can feel your heart thumping as you approach the door that opens out into where your wedding will take place.

The wedding party is lined up in front of you. Kirsch is shoulder to shoulder with Danny, whom Carmilla had asked to be a part of the celebration. Behind them is LaF, their ever present grin lighting up their face. A few of your younger distant cousins are at the front of the line.

The music starts up and the doors open and you squeeze Will's wrist lightly and he nods reassuringly in your direction before putting his other hand over yours and giving it a pat.

You begin to walk.

You crane your neck to get a look at Carmilla standing up at the front. As soon as you spot her, you can tell she's staring at you too and she's got this look of absolute joy and disbelief on her face and you don't need a mirror to know you're probably looking at her the same way because she is breathtakingly beautiful.

You realize the fact that you'll have to lie to Danny about loving the ceremony later because there's no way you can look away from Carmilla right now to take it all in. You're sure the place is wonderful, but it's nothing compared to your soon-to-be wife.

You're halfway up the aisle when you see her let go her bouquet with one hand to reach up and wipe the side of her eye with the tip of a nail.

"You can cry now." Will murmurs to you out of the side of his mouth. "I've won myself fifty euros."

You laugh instead because this is perfect and Carmilla's perfect. You can't even begin to describe how amazing she looks and how happy you are that you went to every single therapy session and got through every rough night because she's everything you could ever hope for.

Will takes your hand from his arm when you get to the altar. Carmilla takes it from him and they share a look, as they do. Will bows his head afterwards and steps back. Carmilla is grinning and so is he.

"You look incredibly beautiful." She says, lacing her fingers through yours.

"You're gonna make me cry." You say, laughing a little. "I can't even describe how you look right now."

She brings your joined hands up to her lips and presses a soft kiss to your knuckles.

"You ready?" She says, tilting her head towards the altar.

"I've been waiting my whole life to marry you." You reply, reveling in the way she looks downward, trying to hide the smitten look on her face.

"Is this where I say something as ridiculously clichéd as ' _this is the start of the rest of our lives_ '?"

"But it _is_ the start of the rest of our lives." You whisper to her as you approach the minister.

"You're such a softie, Hollis." She chuckles and then you stop talking because it reminds you of her when she was fourteen and the fact that you're marrying your childhood best friend really hits you and you think about your parents and how happy they must have felt together and you think they'd be proud of you.

You cry a little bit.

 

* * *

 

You change out of your wedding dress after a long photography session that directly followed the ceremony. The less extravagant dress you change into is white as well, but cuts off at your knees and you're thankful you won't have to pick your way around the reception in the poofy skirt.

Carmilla meets you at the top of the stairs. She's in black, _of course_ , and her hair is up and she looks as happy as you've ever seen her.

"Hi there, wife." You say, taking her hand. Your favorite smile makes its way across her features and you kiss her because yeah, you're _married_ now.

"Hi." The smile hasn't left her face. "Do you know where this reception is?"

"I thought you knew."

"No. Danny kept saying it was a secret." She says, shrugging as she leads you down the stairs. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Yeah." You can't stop yourself from kissing her again when you get to the bottom of the stairs. "Speaking of surprises, you still haven't told me where we're going for our honeymoon."

"Did you pack the Sudoku and the crosswords?"

"Yeah. So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

 

* * *

 

You get out of the car  to find yourself at some sort of dock. Danny comes up to you and Carmilla right away, she looks smug.

"You know how you guys said you met on a yacht?" She asks and you nod and smile when you spot a yacht in the water behind her. "Well, I got it for your reception."

"What do you mean you got it?" You ask and Carmilla beside you looks like she's trying to decide whether or not Danny is lying.

"I mean the yacht you two met in. I tracked it down and rented it for the night."

"That was almost fifteen years ago."

"Yeah, that's why it's _special_ , Laura."

Yeah, you're a crying mess by the time you actually step foot in the yacht.

 

* * *

 

Kirsch's speech makes you laugh hysterically, but it does the complete opposite to your wife, who is crying by the time he's halfway through it. Of course, you cry when LaF starts to speak, but you feel okay about all that emotion because Perry is crying too by the time it's over.

The cake Maman had insisted on is delicious and you curtsy when she approaches you to ask how you like it. She simply shakes her head at you and embraces you instead.

"I am very happy for both you." She says and Carmilla looks like she's about to get started with the crying again.

You're happy too, happier than you ever could have thought possible.

 

* * *

 

It's a little later on in the night when you're standing with some of your cousins that you spot Carmilla approaching you from across the room. You look up at her and smile when she says hi and she drags you to a small empty room underneath where the festivities are taking place. You both kick off your shoes and she fishes her phone out of the pocket of her dress and presses play before pulling you in for your first dance together. She sings the lyrics of the song into your ear and you press yourself as close to her as you can.

You feel nine years old all over again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact: I said that this was complete.  
> Another fact: I'm a dirty liar.

"I think we should get a dog." You say as Carmilla pulls you back in against her body after leading you to twirl.

You feel her laugh against your ribs more than you hear it and the grin that's been stuck on your face all day widens because she's your wife now. And you know that she's not an object to be possessed or anything of the sort and she doesn't - never will - belong to you, but the two of you belong _together_ and for that to be official just blows your mind.

"I'm more of a cat person."

"Wow, this is really something you should tell a girl before she agrees to marry you."

Carmilla laughs again and you rest your head on her shoulder. Her phone is still playing music in her pocket and you have never seen her so at peace than here in an almost a closet sized space, fingers of one hand splayed on your lower back, while her other hand is entwined with yours.

"I'm serious about the dog." You say, turning your head so you can trace her collarbone with your nose. "And where are we going for two weeks? You never said."

"Oh that's right." She sounds amused. "I never said."

"And?"

"When I was at Harvard." She says, placing a kiss at the base of your neck. "Some of my floor mates used to drag me along on roadtrips. We'd go to New York one weekend or spend a Friday in Maine."

You can tell by the way her voice dips that even though her two years at Harvard were hell for the both of you, these are memories she cherishes.

"I always wondered if it was something you'd like."

"I would have loved it." You would have. You actually think you'd like to reclaim those lost years with her on a stretch of highway somewhere with the Mediterranean sun beating down on your backs while her laugh echoes in the wind.

The very thought makes you wish you had taken Perry up on the offer of driving lessons.

"I thought so too." Her voice is soft. "I asked LaFontaine to rent us a car. It's half an hour to Nice."

Your breath catches and you pull back a little to look at her.

"A honeymoon in France." You smile because anywhere would have been amazing as long as the two of you are together. "It's lovely to think of how far we've come."

She twirls you again and this time when she pulls you back into her, her mouth meets yours and the kiss leaves both of you breathless.

Carmilla rests your foreheads together and brushes her nose against yours in an Eskimo kiss.

"I'm far more interested in how much further we'll go together." She says.

 

* * *

 

You don't get off the yacht until around midnight and the thought of the insane amount of press waiting for you outside the gated areas of the dock makes your stomach clench.

The limo pulls up and you make a move to get in, but Carmilla, who is holding your hand, pulls you back.

"We're over there." She says, tilting her head to where Will is leaning against an old car that you wouldn't be able to identify if your life depended on it.

You nod and say thanks once more to Danny and Elizabeth before holding your arms out for Perry and LaFontaine.

"Thank you." You say as the three of you come together in a group hug of sorts.

"You're welcome, Laura." Perry sounds like she's crying.

"We'll take over from Kirsch in a few days." LaF says. "That wife of yours planned a seriously cool two weeks for you."

You laugh and give them both one last squeeze before disentangling yourself.

"Does everyone know where I'm headed except for me?"

"If I've done my job properly," Elizabeth says as she walks past you and towards the limo. "the whole world won't know."

 

* * *

 

You sit in the backseat with Carmilla as Will drives.

The car has heavily tinted windows and, you notice, no GPS.

Carmilla says something to Will in French and he replies in kind. The two of them speak so quickly that all you can catch from their exchange is _du Jardin Exotique_.

"You're a really good driver." You tell Will.

"Thank you. You're a very good Queen."

You reach over to take a hold of Carmilla's hand and she brings your joined hands up to her lips to kiss yours before she says in English,

"Do you think anyone followed?"

Will checks his rearview.

" _Non_." He says. "But we're on the Grand Prix track and I'd love to see them try."

Your mind finally connects why it's Will driving and you can only shake your head at the genius of Carmilla Karnstein.

 

* * *

 

Will stops the car in a parking lot that you don't recognize and Carmilla opens her door and gets out as soon as he does. Your own door opens courtesy of Will and he smiles at you before gesturing for you to walk over to the front passenger door.

"I learned to drive from her." He says cheekily. "So theoretically, you're in good hands, but Milla's a wild one, as I'm sure you already know."

"I'll keep that in mind." You hug him as well. "Thank you for everything."

"Anything for you two." He replies without missing a beat as he opens the car door for you again.

"Do you happen to know where I'm going?" You ask as you slide in.

"I have no clue. She knows I'd tell you if I did."

 

* * *

 

Carmilla behind the wheel might be one of your favorite things.

Her seat is reclined to the point that it looks like she's slouching even as she drives and when she pulls a map out of her pocket and hands it to you, you do a double take.

"Navigator." She smiles. "Kirsch offered to lead instead of to follow, but I thought it'd be more fun this way."

"Am I getting the full Carmilla Karnstein road trip experience?" The map unfolds and falls onto your lap and with the city lights as your only help, you have to squint to even make out the bolded words.

"Starting tomorrow you will." She cups your cheek and runs her thumb over your cheekbone. "You're the DJ as well."

"Wow so demanding."

"Says the girl who once spent half an hour in bed demanding that I move my things to England."

"Shut up and drive."

 

* * *

 

Nice is, as usual, gorgeous.

Carmilla takes your hand and leads you up to the hotel entrance as soon as she's parked.

"Kirsch will take our bags up later." She says, dragging you to the stairwell when the elevator closes just before the two of you can squeeze in to it. You chase her up the stairs and the two of you giggle like schoolchildren until you reach your floor and she takes your breath away by picking you up bridal style in the hallway.

"What are you doing?" You cross your wrists behind her neck and she leans down to kiss you.

"I would have carried you up, but we took the stairs." She pins you half against the doorframe to keep you cradled in her arms as she swipes the key card to open the door. "Welcome to the rest of our lives, Laura."

 

* * *

 

The two of you don't make it out of bed until after noon the next day when Carmilla has to shrug on a bathrobe so that she can open the door in order to pick up the suitcases Kirsch had dropped off outside your door for you last night.

You waste even more time in the shower, but manage to get on the road just as the sun starts melting into dusk and Carmilla's laugh rings in your ears over the sound of the music you put on and the directions you give her so that she can turn into the freeway.

"Where to next?"

"Marseille." She says, cranking her window open so that you can see the sunlight glinting off of the water reflected back at you in her sunglasses. "Put on that song you love so much."

You comply and she whistles along to the appropriate parts while you do your best to try and sing both voices and the two of you end up having to pull over because you are both laughing too hard and this is _home_ for you, an empty lot adjacent to a French freeway, holding Carmilla and laughing as you watch the sun set over the horizon.

 

* * *

 

Her favorite football team plays in Marseille the next night and so the two of you have time, even despite how much of it you spend lying against each other in bed in the morning, to see the city a little bit.

You invest in a scarf and sunglasses while Carmilla just uses her glare to ward off anyone who might even think of going near you and the two of you walk along the water hand in hand, going back and forth on the idea of getting a dog, but also just _talking_ and she lets you pull her in to all the souvenir shops before she finally has to stop you from getting LaFontaine a nice sailboat shaped clock because you're _gonna be late for the game, Laura_.

You aren't much of a football fan. You haven't been outside of the times she's taken you along, but even you can admit that the game is exciting and it's an experience in itself, watching Carmilla's oft dulled down passion let loose in a string of arm gestures and outraged facial expressions flashing through her face.

Her team wins, which results in this playful spark in her eye and you know even before your back hits the mattress in your hotel room that you are now forever going to cheer for AS Monaco to win if it means that you'll, metaphorically speaking, score every time they do.

Afterwards, when Carmilla's lying in a heap on top of you and you no longer have any energy to move her, she says,

"Best day ever."

And you're inclined to agree.

 

* * *

 

The next day is a travel day.

Carmilla drives for about two hours before making a stop at a fancy restaurant in Monpellier. The two of you have an early dinner before saying goodbye to Kirsch in the parking lot just as Perry and LaFontaine roll up. You sit in the car while Carmilla talks routes with Perry, who waves her fingers giddily at you when you and Carmilla drive by her side of the car.

"Still not telling me where we're going?"

"No." She signals to merge on to the _Autopista del Mediterrani_ , as it's called on your map. "We'll be there in a few hours."

You smile and she reaches behind her seat to hand you a package of _Chips Ahoy!_.

"Keep yourself busy, yeah?"

"I'm busy enough trying to keep you from getting lost." You say, opening the package anyways. "But let's play twenty questions."

"Cats or dogs?" She asks immediately and you laugh for what feels like the millionth time in only three days.

 

* * *

 

Barcelona.

You honeymoon in Barcelona.

Carmilla hands you your return tickets to London Heathrow from Barcelona - El Prat as she signals to exit the freeway into the city.

"I majored in Architecture." She says. "Did you think we'd go anywhere other than Gaudí's city?"

It's fitting - you think after you spend the remainder of your stay in Barcelona walking down La Rambla, dipping your feet in the ocean, marveling at La Sagrada Familia, and strolling through Park Güell hand in hand with your wife - that she picked the one city that comes close to matching her own beauty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, thank you for reading the random things I decide to write!


End file.
